Can opener



Oct. 4, 1955 E. T. BANK 2,719,646

CAN OPENER Filed April 14, 1953 JJ'M Ae Tan/we,

IN V EN TOR. ZZZ a5.

' Arraewsx United States Patent CAN OPENER Einar T. Bank, Los Angeles, Calif. Application April 14, 1953, Serial No. 348,799 1 Claim. (Cl. 22052) The present invention relates generally to devices for opening cans and relates more particularly to that type of device adapted to open cans of the rip or tearing strip ty e.

One difiiculty encountered in opening cans of this type, particularly with the wire type of key opener, is the guiding of the roll of the strip as the latter is being wound on said wire key. Often, during this operation, the roll gets out of alignment with respect to a portion of the strip being torn from the can and, as the roll is rotated, said strip portion leaves the roll and begins to be wound on the small diameter shank of the wire key. This causes considerable difficulty in finishing removal of the rip strip.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which will overcome this difliculty.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character for engaging the rip or tearing strip and for tearing same from the can in a ready manner and with the chance of breaking the strip reduced to a minimum.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will guide the roll along the strip so the latter will not slip off said roll.

A further object of the invention is to provide means of this character for winding the strip oif the can and simultaneously to accommodate the increasing size of the roll as the strip is wound thereon.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character wherein the guiding and compensating member is formed of a single piece of wire.

Another object of the invention is to provide means of this character that is simple and efiective in operation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character that is simple in design and construction and embodies a novel arrangement of parts, said device comprising but two parts capable of being produced at an extremely low cost.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a can opening device of this character which is of generally new and improved construction and which effectively and etficiently fulfills its intended purpose.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following part of the specification.

Referring to the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a device embodying the present invention in operative position on a conventional rip or tear strip equipped can;

Fig. 2 is a side view of said device;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the device with a portion of the rip strip wound thereon;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified arrangement of the device; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the guide member shown in Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, the device embodying the present invention is shown as comprising a key formed of wire to provide a stem 10 having a looped handle 11 at one end and a flattened portion 12 at the other end, said flattened portion being provided with a longitudinally extending slot 13 for reception of the tongue of the rip strip can as will be hereinafter more fully described. The guide for the key is also formed of wire and includes a bearing portion 14 which is wound about the stem 10 in such a manner as to permit the stem to rotate therein. The lower end of the guide comprises a laterally extending arm 15' having a downturned end portion 16. It is to be noted that the portion 18 of the guide is so wound on the stem as to permit clockwise rotation of the key without striking the upper end 17 of said bearing portion. In other words, the key is rotated in the same direction as the winding of the portion 14.

There is a can indicated at 20 which comprises a body, indicated generally at 21, which is cup-shaped and which has a cover 22 thereon and secured thereto by a tear strip 23. The cover has a longitudinally extending head 24 about the upper peripheral edge, said bead extending upwardly from the adjacent wall portion 25 of the cover.

The strip 23 has a free tongue portion of well-known character which is inserted in the slot 13 of the key when it is desired to remove said strip. When the strip removing device is positioned operatively on the can, with the tongue of the strip received in the slot 13, the arm 15 of the guide means rests on the bead 24 of the can and the depending end portion 16 trails the key and engages the inner side of the bead 24. The opening device is so constructed that the key is guided about the can as the strip is wound on said key. The flattened portion 12 is maintained in the same plane as the strip as the latter is being wound thereon and as the size of the rolled up portion 27 of the strip 23 increases, the arm 15 of the device tends to assume a more nearly radial position with respect to the can to thus accommodate the roll 27.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the guide member, indicated generally at 30, is formed of a piece of stamped metal and includes an arm portion 15a, 8. depending portion 16a and a bearing portion 14a which extends about the stem 10 of the key and in which said stem is adapted to rotate. It has been found that some cans have a sufiicient depression in the top or in the bottom to accommodate a device constructed in accordance with the present disclosure so that said device may be soldered or otherwise secured to the can without interfering with the stacking thereof.

I claim:

A new article of manufacture, a device adapted to open a can of the type that consists of a cup-shaped body, a cover having an upstanding peripheral bead and a tongueequipped removable tear strip between the upper end of the side wall of the body and the lower end of the depending skirt of said cover: comprising a key formed of a single length of wire, said key having a shank with a loop at one end to provide a handle and a flattened portion at the opposite end, there being a slot in said flattened portion in which the tongue of the tear strip is received so that said strip may be wound around the flattened portion of the key to effect release of the cover from the can body; and guide means formed of wire and including a horizontal member adapted in connection with the use of the device to ride on said bead of the cover, said guide means terminating at one end in an upstanding helix wound around the shank of said key to form a vertically extending bearing in which said shank is rotatable and a vertically depending free end portion at the end of said horizontal member remote from said helix adapted to engage the inner side of said head and slide thereagainst, said horizontal member being of slightly greater length than the radius of the roll of wound strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 687,939

Mar. 4, 1952 

